Copenhagen on A Budget

So if you’ve been following my posts, you’ll know that we are on a big 18 months trip. If not, we’re on an 18 month trip travelling all around Europe & the UK!! We’ll be travelling on a budget so we’re keeping pretty close tabs on the finances.

The first big stop on our trip is Kobenhaven or more commonly known, Copenhagen. What a beautiful city. It’s filled with bright & colourful buildings, streets budding with flowers, & beautiful friendly locals. The week exploring this amazing city has been incredible.

It’s a city filled with history & vibrant culture. A place that people of any taste will enjoy. You’ll find small boutique cafes & restaurants, through to bustling high streets & markets, there is no shortage of things to do & see if you’re here & travelling on a budget.

Budget

The budget is something we really need to keep a close eye on. We are planning to be over here for 18 months & until we pick up some jobs we can’t afford to be spending willy-nilly. The hubby has been a bit dubious & thinks that we’re really going to struggle because “knowing us” we won’t be able to help ourselves from spending.

So not only is this a trip of a life time it is also a lesson in spending, learning to stick to a budget & not cave into those frivolous purchases.

Flights – $1049.96 AUD (for 2 return)
Our biggest spending point on this trip was our flights. We stupidly booked them way, way, way too late & ended up spending more than what we had bargained for. DON’T DO THIS! Read my post on Booking Cheap Flights to get a way better deal than what we did.

Accommodation – $676 AUD
For accommodation, we booked through Air BnB & got a really well priced private room with shared facilities.

Spending Money – No more than $1000 AUD.
We got out 2,500DKK which was $550.83inc international charges. This was our spending money for food, drinks, transport & anything extra.
We also paid an extra $266.90 & got 2 72hr Copenhagen Cards. More about these later.
On our last night, we bought dinner on our card & ended up going over our planned amount of 2,500DKK. It turned out to be the equivalent to $19.20 AUD so we weren’t too upset.

This was a really tight budget & I’m really proud we managed to stick to it (or very, very close to it).

We spent 8 days in Copenhagen for less than $1500. Remembering this is for 2 people and includes accommodation, food, alcohol & sites.

So here’s how we did it.

Accommodation

Air BnB is starting to be our go to website to book accommodation. It’s just so cheap & easy, & if you’re willing to take the risk of maybe getting a dodgy place once in a while then it’s definitely worth your money! And if you join Air BnB with this link you’ll save $49 on your first booking.

Where we stayed we had a private bedroom & living room with a shared kitchen & bathroom. This worked perfectly for us. We were barely in the house & when we were we were able to chill in the lounge & not have to worry about getting in anyone’s way.

Food

There is a wide range of food available in Copenhagen. It’s a very multicultural city & you’ll find a lot of meals to choose from.

Eating out at a restaurant is definitely your most expensive option. We did this twice & decided that was enough. The rest of the time we got groceries & made our own lunch & dinner or got a cheap takeaway meal like pizza! It was sooo much cheaper to buy your own groceries.

Obviously, if you’re staying in a hotel & don’t have the facilities, buying groceries isn’t going to help you out. If you happen to find yourself in Vestebro I highly recommend heading to the repurposed church, Absalon, on Sønder Blvd. To read more about it & the other places we ate, you can check out my new post that’s coming soon ‘My Favourite Eats in Copenhagen’.

Copenhagen Card & Transport

The Copenhagen Card was fantastic. We used it to get into 12 separate attractions which would have cost us $200+ AUD each (yes, I did the maths). It also gave you free transport within the city zones.

Transport in Copenhagen is not very cheap. Your best option is to get the Copenhagen Cardfor 24hrs, 42hrs, 72hrs or 120hrs so you can travel & see the sites, your other option is to get a CityPass for 24hrs or 72hrs. The CityPass will allow you to travel within Copenhagen day & night.

The Sites

I’m only going to list my 3 favourites because otherwise, this post is going to become huge, & nobody wants that.

If you want to read a more in-depth description of them & other places we visited, you’ll have to wait for my post on places to visit in Copenhagen.

Copenhagen Aquarium

I am a sucker for aquariums & so were our friends that we met up with in Copenhagen which made for an awesome time!

The exhibitions range from freshwater to saltwater to tropical & to the deep sea. All of which has been done really well. There is even a touch pool for those that are keen to touch the critters.

Christiansborg Palace

Being what the Royals would consider a commoner, walking into this huge, elegantly grand building was jaw dropping. Just the proportions of it alone are eye opening. The ceilings are at least 5m high and each room you go into is decorated with beautiful ornate ceilings, chandeliers, silk/embroidery/material wall coverings, huge portraits & lavish furnishings. None of which you can touch of course. Oh & gold trimmings, how could I forget that EVERYTHING is trimmed with gold.

After going through the main part of the palace you can also go and see the huge Kitchens, the Stables, the Armoury & the Ruins under the palace. If you’re there on a Sunday you can also see the Palace Chapel.

Glyptotek

The NY Carlsberg Glyptotek is an art museum. The building is massive & it’s very hard to miss. I’d seen a small very well-designed brochure that first caught my interest in visiting it. When I saw the building, I was definitely going to visit. It’s a beautiful façade of red brick & white sandstone, finished with polished granite columns. There are beautiful patterns cut into the brick & sandstone as well as angelic figures framing the huge entranceway.

It’s just spectacular, especially when you can see the enormous glass domed roof behind the façade with its patinaed copper mouldings. Parts of the glass roof creates the open ceiling for the winter gardens just inside the entrance.

The exhibitions inside were awesome. They range from Egyptian mummies to French Art to Roman Sculptures. They also have special exhibitions. We got to see “War & Storm” Treasures from the Sea around Sicily.

My Favourite Day in Copenhagen

The day we hired bikes. There was something so fun & free about being to ride all over the city to see what ever landmarks we wanted. Copenhagen is made for cyclists & pedestrians which make hiring a bike for the day a perfect option. We packed a picnic & went on the hunt for some cheap bikes.

You can hire a bike for as cheap as 80DKK for 24hrs, so about $16AUD, $13USD & £10, bargain. We hired ours from Baisikeli, which was a great place to start a day of bike touring.

By riding around I feel you get to see things you normally wouldn’t when you’re taking the bus here & there. We were riding along & heard this bell chime, we stopped & worked out where it was coming from. It was the Church of Our Saviour & it was amazing, it was so peaceful inside. We’re not religious but something about the inside of this church just made us…reverent & euphoric all at once.

Another thing we came across was a public opera. We could hear singing coming from somewhere & went investigating. We ended up sitting & watching this opera for a good half an hour before the heavens opened & we got rained on.

It’s little things like this that made our bike tour day so amazing. Yes, you could probably get the same thing walking, but you don’t cover as much ground & would probably miss things because of it.

So to wrap it up, you can definitely travel to Copenhagen on a budget. You can see all the sites & have an amazing time if you plan it properly. I hope this helps you on your travels to Copenhagen. I truly loved this city & hope that you do too.

If you’ve been or are planning to go I’d love to hear about it in the comments below or on my facebook page.